Alzheimer Nederland

Vanishing

Alzheimer Nederland is a non-profit organization raising awareness and funds for vital research for the disease.

Designed by Rejane Dal Bello, when she was at Studio Dumber (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Competition between charity organizations is fierce. They all need to raise funds for important causes, but there is no way of ranking the seriousness of the problems each organization is working to solve or alleviate. Gaining sympathy is crucial. Our priority for Alzheimer Nederland was to speak to people’s hearts in a powerful way, but also quietly, without shouting — with impact and integrity.
— Studio Dumber project page

Having met patients, families and carers to experience the disease first-hand, we developed a strong and instantly recognisable identity. The new logotype is bold and confident, but like the human mind it also changes… The ‘vanishing points’ — the blurred, fading elements in the typographic style — visualise the effects of dementia, while some people have also seen them as sources of light and hope.
— Studio Dumber project page

My first batch of sketches was about how to translate the disease, the core of the disease, because it is about communication. That’s the only way you can actually know if somebody has Alzheimer’s; it’s not a physical or visual disease, like AIDS or cancer. It doesn’t have an identifiable thing that shows itself. The person is lost. The person repeats things several times, saying or for getting things. It’s about losing yourself. So that’s why I ended up with my visual concept. Alzheimer’s is such a big problem that it needed a sensitive solution. For me visually, it was not just about making a design. It was about realizing that I had to communicate that this is something people die from. It was the project of my life.
— Rejane Dal Bello on 99U

Instead of making a cliche identity —like “people holding hands”— for this kind of organization, this identity visualized exactly the core essence of the disease — vanishing. I was thinking that it would be also good (or better) to use vanishing effect on pictures on applications, for instance making human face vanishing. But it would be too pitiful. So, the putting the vanishing typography on photos of people look happy makes a great contrast.

More from Studio Dumber project page, and Rejane Dal Bello project page